[Review] Autumn Sonata (1978)

“Are the daughter's miseries the mother's triumphs?” - Eva In cinema filled with dysfunctional family dramas, Ingmar Bergman’s works often loom conspicuously. From Scenes from A Marriage to Cries and Whispers, his grip on this heavy subject has long been both celebrated and cerebrated. Autumn Sonata, the first and last collaboration between the two incomparable Bergmans: Ingmar and Ingrid Bergman, is one of those hefty formidable dramas. Through the estranged relationship between a daughter, Eva (Liv Ullmann), and her concert pianist mother Charlotte (Ingrid Bergman), Ingmar Bergman gazes at their stirring spectacle of disquieting, perpetuated emotional injuries. Here, there...

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Rizky Muzakki Thursday, September 24, 2020  No comment

[Review] The Hours (2002)

“What does it mean to regret when you have no choice? It's what you can bear. There it is. No one's going to forgive me. It was death. I chose life.” - Laura BrownBased on Michael Cunningham’s novel of the same name, which is also loosely based on the life of Virginia Woolf during the writing process of Mrs. Dalloway; The Hours to the maudlin misery guts—and by that I mean myself—are like Inception is to Nolan fanboys. It’s a glaring drama that deals with its ambition keenly, hear this: a story that takes...

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Rizky Muzakki Saturday, September 12, 2020  No comment

[Review] Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019)

"When you asked if I had known love. I could tell the answer was yes. And that it was now." - Marianne In today's cinema, where every project comes with such a ponderous methodical approach with one goal to impress, effortless invisibility has become a rare gem. Portrait of a Lady on Fire is that rarity. Director/screenwriter Céline Sciamma's technical prowess is incredibly refined, her timing is fluid and her delivery is graceful. She reminds us that what we're peeping through are simply pieces of someone's life, that we're fortunate enough to witness, or better yet,...

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Rizky Muzakki Friday, January 24, 2020  1 comment

[Review] Little Women (2019)

"Please fight to the end, be LOUD! Don't just quietly go away!" - Jo March  Watching Little Women had me pondering question after question. What makes a great film, great? Then, that question expanded: what makes a great film, important? I still haven't got the chance to find answers and one thing came up: how is one deemed important anyway? The scale, the scope, the stakes? I found myself fascinated by one thing, then one fascination came right after another, and so on. Director-screenwriter Greta Gerwig, in this Louisa May Alcott's latest film adaptation,...

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Rizky Muzakki Tuesday, January 21, 2020  1 comment